by B. T. Narro
Henry gave Basen a disapproving look before asking again, “Then why?”
“It’s not just to get Juliana Hiller out of prison,” Steffen replied. He appeared the least uncomfortable about delivering this inevitable news as he moved and gestured more fluidly than Effie and Annah, who looked as stiff as wood. “There’s another plan that involves all of us, not just Crim.”
“But we will bring Juliana back safely,” Annah added. “We won’t be doing anything dangerous. Our trip won’t take more than an additional half day to do what we plan.”
“What about you, Vithos?” Henry asked. “Basen didn’t mention what you would be doing.”
Basen wasn’t shocked that Henry knew the name of the most powerful psychic in their army. He and Terren probably had strategized much already. Hopefully this little adventure wouldn’t interfere with what they wanted to do.
“I will go with Basen to Merejic,” the Elf said in his rough Kreppen accent. “I will return to Elves to make sure Basen return.”
“And what will Basen be doing there?” His father’s gaze bore through his son.
“Surprising that psychic I mentioned” was all Basen would admit. “And to do that, we need to leave now.” Fatholl probably wasn’t expecting him for a few days. Hopefully this would give Basen a chance to discover Fatholl’s plan before being trapped and forced to execute it.
Henry was sure to find holes in this plan—holes Basen already knew about and didn’t need reminding. There was no proof his plan would work, but when he had this feeling that something would succeed, it always did.
Basen went to retrieve his akorell stone from his room while Henry and the rest crowded into Annah’s room. She was the only one who hadn’t packed a bag yet and quickly got to it.
“Did you get enough food?” Basen asked Effie when he made his way in.
She patted her backpack. “Plenty.”
“Did you speak with Penny before you left?”
“No, I figured it would be better to miss class than to try to explain. You know how she is about battle training. She thinks it will save us all.”
Basen nodded. “What about Alabell?”
Effie looked down. “It was already late by the time everyone had gathered. I figured it would be best to come straight here.”
He panicked for a brief moment, moving toward Annah’s desk. “I’d better write her a note at least.”
As he searched his heart and started to come to the right words, Annah destroyed his concentration by announcing, “I’m done packing.”
Damn. He could fill pages with everything he was feeling. Everyone had a reason to fight, and Alabell was Basen’s. Tauwin had murdered her family and would kill her, too, if given the chance. This beautiful, caring woman, who brought nothing but good to the world—how could anyone wish to take her away?
He’d wanted Effie to bring her here so he could find some way of telling her how much she meant to him. If Alabell was too busy to come, Effie was at least supposed to say goodbye for him.
Perhaps it was better Alabell wasn’t here. If she heard what Basen was doing, she’d want to go with him to Tenred. But the task of bringing Juliana back to the Academy was more dangerous than he’d made it seem to his father. The mountains were most likely guarded, and anything could happen during the weeklong journey back. Enemy troops could return to Lake Kayvol or even venture to Tenred and spot the party returning with Juliana.
If a healer was needed, chances were great someone would die. Steffen seemed like the best option between the chemists, as he had battle experience. Truly, anyone besides Alabell would cause Basen less worry. Hopefully she would understand he didn’t doubt her skills. He was trying to protect her.
Penny, on the other hand, probably would react much worse than Alabell when she found out Basen and the others had gone.
“One moment,” Basen said, then began to write.
“Alabell, I wish I’d had time to see you before I left. I’ll have to make do with the memory of your smile. Every time I see it, it reminds me of the good in this world. I’ll need that kind of strength where I’m going.”
She deserved so much more than this quick goodbye letter. “Can you bring this to Alabell?” he asked his father. “And this one is for Terren.”
Henry took the two scrolls.
Basen pointed at the one for Terren. “That explains the plan. Please inform Alabell of it when she asks.”
Henry unrolled it and began to read. Basen drew his wand and readied his mind for the portal.
Henry pushed out his palm. “Wait.”
There was nothing Henry could say to dissuade him, but Basen lowered his wand anyway out of respect.
“To resist psyche,” Henry said, “you must feel something stronger than the pain.”
“That sounds like one of those things that’s harder than one might think.”
“It is. Pain is hard to ignore, but fortunately for us, the pain from a psychic is physical, not emotional.” He showed Basen a questioning look with his eyebrows raised, silently asking if Basen knew what he was saying.
Yes, Henry was talking about the workhouse. The physical pain of aching muscles and a hungry stomach never compared to agony of their hopelessness. Basen could put his mind there whenever he wanted, remembering the feeling of being trapped in a miserable life all too well. His mother must’ve felt the same in that horrible prison.
This feeling—this was what he had to recall the next time a psychic had a firm grip on his energy. It gave him the strength he would need, and not just against Fatholl.
But was it stronger than his feelings for Alabell? It didn’t seem as if anything could be. Perhaps she was the key to stopping the pain.
“Goodbye for now,” Basen told his father.
“For now,” Henry agreed with pride in his voice.
Everyone took their place behind Basen as he raised his wand once more. He formed the usual ball of bastial energy, then ripped the energy free from the akorell stone and combined both clusters. He reached deep into the damaged wall of the world and focused his thoughts on the kitchen in Tenred castle.
He broke through the wall as it ripped in every direction, the portal bursting open in front of him.
His father hesitantly stepped toward it as his mouth dropped open.
Annah was the first one in, then Vithos. Effie and Steffen seemed more nervous as they watched closely, possibly waiting to ensure Annah and Vithos were still whole on the other side.
Basen had practiced holding immense amounts of energy and now felt as if he could keep the portal open without his full concentration. He put his free hand on Effie’s back. “It’s safe,” he said. “You’ll just feel dizzy.”
She pulled her arms in and jumped into the portal.
Now it was down to Crim and Steffen, both of whom had turned away from the portal as if it might burn them alive.
“Everything I know about portals tells me I shouldn’t go in one,” Steffen said. “When Effie described it earlier, I figured it would be easier. Now, looking at it, I still don’t understand why it won’t rip me apart.”
“I don’t know the reason,” Basen admitted. “But I’ve gone through them enough times to be confident all your limbs will still be attached when you get to the other side. If you look closely, you can see everyone there.”
Steffen cautiously stepped sideways toward the portal, using his shoulder like a shield. Annah, Vithos, and Effie looked to be recovering from the vertigo as they found their balance. The tables and counters of Tenred’s kitchen were the most clear of the hazy image. What looked to be other people started to appear around the edges, as if a crowd was forming. Their shapes bent as the entire portal rippled like a puddle.
Everyone was supposed to go in before the Krepp to prevent the panic of last time. Basen let out a grunt he’d been holding back, showing Steffen it was no easy task to maintain the portal.
“Oh,” Steffen said. “All right I’m going.”
But he didn’t
move.
“I’m going,” he repeated.
“Steffen,” Basen urged.
The chemist sucked in air through his teeth and covered his face with his arm as he stumbled in. Crim ran in bravely, almost impatiently, right after.
“It’s likely you’ll see me before they return with Mother,” Basen told his father.
“All right, then,” Henry replied confidently. “Good luck.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
When Tenred’s kitchen finally stopped spinning and Basen could stand without assistance, he realized the staff wasn’t nearly as alarmed this time. The portal was now closed, and only one Krepp had gone through. This seemed to make all the difference, as the chefs, kitchen cleaners, and servers had paused in their tasks to stare at Basen’s party nervously.
“It’s all right,” he said. “We just came to speak with someone.”
He started toward the exit but found he was the only one moving. Even his own party appeared reluctant to follow. They looked at the kitchen staff as if expecting someone to go for one of the many knives on the counters.
Basen cleared his throat and pointed at a pot about to boil over. One of the chefs cursed and lifted it away from the flame as frothy liquid poured over the side.
Finally, people began to return to their work. Basen gestured at his stunned party to follow him as he made his way out.
Crim looked ready to bare his teeth when Annah politely confronted him. “There will be no fighting,” she reminded, most likely using psyche to subdue his aggression. “By them or us.”
*****
Those they encountered on the way to the prison stared at the Krepp. Basen and Annah assured everyone their party was welcome inside the castle. Of course it was a lie, and anyone who thought so would likely summon a guard.
Basen picked up the pace but made sure not to run, as it most definitely would attract more attention. Guests in Tenred’s castle needed to be escorted, and there was no escort with them. But Basen knew where there tended to be more swordsmen, and where there likely would be none.
They reached the warden’s office without incident. A guard paced between the warden’s closed door and the bolted door to the dungeons. His hand went for the hilt of his sword as soon as he noticed Crim.
Basen quickly put out his hands, holding Crea’s decree in one of them. “I’m Basen Hiller, and I have a note from Crea Hiller that is to be shown to the warden.”
After standing still for a moment of confusion, the guard let go of the handle of his weapon and approached.
Basen handed off the scroll. The guard took a quick glimpse, then read more closely while peering up at Crim every few seconds.
“Wait here,” he said and went to knock on the warden’s door. “Basen Hiller is here with a note from the queen that Juliana Hiller is to be released.” The guard cleared his throat. “A Krepp is with them. It seems to be behaved.”
It took a while for the door to open and the warden to poke his head out and take the scroll from the guard. He likewise didn’t read through it without glancing at Crim a few times.
Basen caught a whiff of Crim’s musk as the creature stepped close and asked, “He human responsible for battle here?”
That’s Crea. But Basen couldn’t say that. The Krepps would kill her, or at least try to. A battle would erupt within the walls of the Academy.
Once she and Abith turn against us, that is the time.
“No,” Basen lied. “Cleve killed the man responsible when we were here last.”
Crim pointed at the warden. “But he human who put Krepps in cage.”
“That wasn’t his choice.” The Krepps couldn’t be left alone after they’d come into the territory demanding the bodies of their brethren. They would’ve dug up the entire cemetery, and the citizens of Tenred wouldn’t have stood idle. Putting the Krepps in prison actually saved their lives.
“Then who?” Crim asked.
Truthfully, it was probably the warden who’d put them there, but Crim wouldn’t understand it was the best decision for everyone.
“No one here,” Basen said.
He was glad when the warden signaled for him to approach. But as the rest of the party followed, the warden put out his hand. “Only Basen.”
This was a bad sign. If the warden was set to deliver bad news, he was likely to do it out of earshot of Basen’s party so they couldn’t do any damage, especially the Krepp. Basen needed to remind this man he didn’t have the power to refuse them.
“You can speak to all of us, or none of us,” Basen said, “and I don’t think you want to send us away with nothing.”
The guard looked at the warden nervously, who stared at Basen as he mulled his words.
“Explain something to me,” the warden said. “As you must remember from before your exile, all visitors are to be escorted. You’re now a visitor, even with your Hiller name. Yet I see no one here with you. The rest of the castle must not even know of your presence.”
“They don’t.” But they would soon if Basen didn’t hurry this along. At least one person had to have gone to fetch the guards upon seeing the Krepp. “The reason there are so few of us is because of an understanding there will not be any fighting. This is what you want, isn’t it?”
“Of course, but I can’t let someone out of prison with just a note that might have Crea’s signature on it.”
“You know her signature. That’s it.”
“You know her signature as well.” The warden gave him a look as if Basen had been caught stealing. “You could’ve forged it.”
“It’s hers,” Annah said as she came forward.
“I can’t be sure,” the warden said.
Basen reminded him, “You’ve released other prisoners with a lot less than a signed decree like this.”
“Yes, but they weren’t Juliana Hiller.”
Basen turned up his hands. “What does that matter?”
“I received explicit instructions not to release her no matter who came for her.”
Crea. She could’ve warned me so I’d be better prepared for this stubbornness. He wasn’t about to leave without his mother.
“You must be wondering how we’ve gotten into the castle not once, but twice,” Basen said. “The last time, you must’ve heard that no one saw us enter. It will be the same this time. And it will be the same the next time…and the time after that. We will keep coming back so long as there is a reason for us to return.”
He paused for a breath to control his building anger. He needed just the right amount of it in his voice to be threatening yet unemotional.
“This signature from Crea is real, but that shouldn’t matter to you anymore. The only thing that should is giving us what we want, or I recommend finding a job that moves you far away from this castle. Because if we have to come back, there will be a battle here that will make the last one look like a simple misunderstanding. Now bring us to my mother, and you’d better bring the key to free the Krepps as well. They’re coming back with us, and that’s the only way you won’t see us again.”
There was a moment of sadness as Basen realized how true his words were—how unlikely it was he’d ever return to the castle where he was born. Sometimes he missed the simple life here, and some part of him had always wondered if he could return to it. Only now did he fully realize his childhood was long gone.
“I’ll agree if you wait here until I’ve gathered the necessary men to escort you out,” the warden said. “And you will not speak to the prisoners except to notify the Krepps that they’ll be leaving. Armored men will bring you all the way to the edge of the territory, and none of you are welcome back. If you’re seen within the castle again, we will have that battle you mentioned.”
The only reason we’d be coming back would be to fight anyway. Unfortunately, a battle against Tenred was likely. There were still men breathing who’d attempted to kill Basen and the others who’d come here before.
“Fine,” Basen said.
The warden locked his door and left with the guard. Crim seemed to have understood enough, for he asked no questions.
The warden and his team of guards returned sooner than Basen had anticipated. They must’ve already been on the way here. As they took Basen and his group down into the dungeons, he worried the only reason the warden agreed to cooperate was because he planned to put them in prison just as he had any others who’d caused him or Crea problems.
No, he would have worse problems if he did. Henry would come, and it wouldn’t be a peaceful visit. No matter how unemotional he’d been with Basen, Henry had always shown he wanted to protect his son. He probably blames himself for not getting to the Academy sooner.
Hopefully, when Basen was done with everything that had caused him to leave the Academy, and his father had seen what he’d accomplished, Henry would finally stop feeling the need to watch over his only son.
Eventually the small army of Tenred guards brought him to his mother’s cell. Crim, upon seeing his Krepps in the same “cage” as before, shoved through the guards to get as close as possible. A few men reached for their weapons, stilling Basen’s heart. Fortunately, nothing came of it, and Basen moved his hand away from the wand strapped to his belt.
“Basen?” It was his mother’s voice.
He smiled happily at her. “Yes. I’ve come to get you out.”
“You have?” She looked at the warden, a man she’d known for many years. He didn’t return her glance as he focused on getting the right key into the hole.
“Crea has allowed you to go free,” the warden told her, no doubt trying to rid himself of the responsibility for her imprisonment.
Juliana looked as if she didn’t trust the situation, hesitantly emerging from the large cell. She kept her hands on the bars as if ready to step back in at any moment and pull them shut.
“What about me?” a woman with a raspy voice asked as she approached. “I’m innocent.”
“So am I,” others added.
“Only Juliana Hiller,” the warden told them, then gestured for his guards to shut the cell door.